My nephew has an outstanding warrant for drug use. He did not appear in court. His dad signed a 5000.00 surety bond and he did not appear. Since the first incident my sisters home has been raided once again. They did not find my nephew there. They did arrest his dad (my brotherinlaw) for stolen property over $300.00 and use/drug paraphanelia. We did not have a clue that he was using as well. He up and quit his job of thirty years about a month ago and has been very irrational. He goes to court next month. This is a first time offense. I guess my question is what are we to expect when he goes to court. Thanks!

Hello Lexegay:

Well, it's not so cut and dried as all that. Are we talking felonies or misdemeanors here? Do they think your bro-in-law knows where his son is? How much more than $300? What kind of property? It didn't just appear at his house. Do they think he stole it? Do they think he knows who stole it? Do they want him to snitch? (My guess is they absolutely do!) Does the prosecutor want to run for district attorney? Is this a small town?

Plus, lots of other factors come into play. Is he contrite? Does he have community support? Does he have a lawyer? A PD, or did he hire an expensive criminal attorney? Does he have a job? Is he still using drugs? DID he snitch? Is the judge running for re-election? And on, and on…..

So you can see there is no answer. If they want to make an example out of him, or if he didn't cooperate, or, or, or, or (take your pick), he could go to jail for quite some time, or they could slap him on the wrist.

excon

PS> If he wants the least to happen to him, I suggest that he hire the best criminal attorney he can afford.

A lot will depend on what he is specifically charged with and what sentencing guidelines your state has in place for those offenses, assuming he gets convicted. As excon suggested, hiring a good criminal lawyer is a smart move as he may well be able to get your brother-in-law acquitted or plea bargain down to something much less serious and, consequently, with much less stiff penalties.